Got the "your PC has been sending us error messages" scam call today for the first time.

[Nye Bevan]

I was interested to see how they play this, so I strung him along. Heavy Indian accent so could well have been calling from out of the country. Caller ID was 215-249-6100. I think this is spoofed because when I call it back it is the "$100 Walmart Gift Voucher Hotline" which would seem to have a somewhat tenuous connection at best to PCs sending out error messages.

He told me to click on Start-Computer-Manage then Event Viewer-Windows Logs-Application to look for errors and warnings so that I could be convinced he was telling the truth. He then told me to go to www.support.me which redirects to a site called "logmeinrescue" which asks for a 6-digit PIN code which he told me to enter. This site then downloaded an executable to my PC which he told me to run. Obviously I was not going to do this even though the virus scan was clean; upon further research I found out that "logmeinrescue" is actually a legitimate service that enables remote technical support to be performed online. When I called the Logmein customer service department and told them the 6-digit PIN code I had been asked to enter they were very appreciative and said that they would be able to shut down the scammer's account.

Some DUers have criticized me in the past for stringing these people along (as they are "only doing their job&quot but I think this is worth doing to reduce the chances of others being victimized.

On a slightly more positive note, I have just been informed via email that I have won $2,100,000 in the "South Africa Big Big Lotto" which is a very nice surprise as I don't even remember entering!

Stay safe out there!

[Jgarrick]

1. I had that one recently myself. I was pressed for time, so simply laughed and hung up.

[TlalocW]

2. I got that one as well

If I'm fast enough, I can put the number into Google, and the first results back will normally tell me the scam. I was fast enough on this one that I answered the phone with, "Hello, this is Bob, and I'm calling from Microsoft because our systems show that your computer has a virus on it, and we need to help you get rid of it."

A full ten seconds of silence greeted me before, "Thank you for your time." *hangup*

But I was really concerned! So I called them at the number that had come through telling the person who answered (who was the same one who called me, which was a shocker - I kind of expected the call to either go to voice mail or be answered by someone else) that it was vitally important that she follow my instructions so we could get rid of the virus on her computer. *hangup*

I called back 4 more times, getting madder and more insistent that her computer was face an apocalyptic doom if she didn't let me help her get rid of the virus on it.

They finally blocked my number.

TlalocW

[penultimate]

3. Bernie Madoff was only doing his job too....

I wonder what their ultimate motivations are. To get access and install bad stuff on your system so you have to pay them, to install backdoors so they can use your computers in evil ways, to steal your personal information....

It would be interesting to reel them in on a test system to see how it plays out.

[dipsydoodle]

4. I just say "I'm using 4 computers which one do you mean?"

They hang up.

[Kelvin Mace]

5. Any person who criticized you

for stringing these people along as they "are only doing their job" either has no clue, or no ethics.

These people's "job" is to infect your computer with zombieware or steal money from you.

I don't believe that frustrating criminal behavior is something to be criticized.

[sharp_stick]

6. I love stringing these scumbags along

I once had an associate of Rachel on the phone for almost 20 minutes before he got tired of me.

[subterranean]

7. I received one of those calls yesterday.

The number on caller ID was something odd like 12243, and the location was "Not available," indicating it was from outside the country. Usually I don't answer those calls, but this time I did out of curiosity. A man with a heavy Indian accent said, "Hello. I am calling from the technical department of the Windows operating system. How are you today?" I just said "Goodbye," and hung up.

I agree that what you did was worthwhile, especially since you followed up by calling the Logmein service. The more we know about these scammers' tactics, the better.

[seveneyes]

8. Stringing these criminals along is the only defense we have left

Between the FTC, NSA and whatever passes for enforcing scam elimination, it's not getting done. The fact they and other criminal identity scams are still calling me, even after taking them on long phone rides, indicates they are blind criminals.

I know most are from offshore, but with trillion dollar budgets to work with, there is a technical and legal solution our government could piece together. Hell, I even get snail mail scams designed to fool elderly people. I scan and email the evidence to the FTC, BBB and others with hardly any feedback, automated or otherwise.

[Liberal_Dog]

9. Small World

I won a lottery too!!

[nykym]

10. My all time favorite to

phone spammers is the one from Tom Mabe
It's on you tube;

Enjoy!

[crash101]

11. pesky callers!

Thanks for the info! It's amazing how persistent the scammers are, considering that people now get updates on phone scams everywhere, especially online.

[Warren DeMontague]

12. Say "Oh No! Hang on, let me go start my computer up, so you can help me"... then leave the phone on

and put something appropriate on an endless loop for them to listen to while they wait, like the 10 hour version of the nom nom song.